France

A small shelf, chosen rather than assembled. French food does not need to be extensive to be worth carrying — it needs to be the right things, made the way they have always been made.

Clément Faugier crème de marrons is the one to know if you do not already: sweet chestnut purée from the Ardèche, made since 1882, eaten on fromage blanc, folded into whipped cream, or spread on brioche. Isigny Ste-Mère beurre d'Isigny carries AOP protection, meaning it can only be made from milk of that one corner of Normandy — pale gold, faintly hazelnut, the butter French pastry recipes assume.

For the sweeter end: Maison Pébeyre truffle honey, Famille Perronneau honey sold with the comb still in the jar, Maison Francis Miot jam from a house that has won France's best-jam prize, Don Gastronom violet petal spread, and Canasuc's rooster-shaped sugar cubes, which exist for no practical reason at all and are better for it.

European Food Store has imported French groceries to Santa Rosa since 2011. Everything on this page is shelf-stable and ships anywhere in the United States.